


(Un)settled: An overview of atypical patterns of daemon morphic fluidity

by LectorEl



Category: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Gen, I need to make up fake document titles for my fake citations, Metafiction, document fic, edition, fake citations, or; fucking with tropes, possibly to be expanded upon later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 07:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17700158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LectorEl/pseuds/LectorEl
Summary: "There is no public conception of non-traditional settlement except as a stigma, a moral failing. Non-traditional settlement is pathologized, treated as a sign of mental illness at best, moral depravity at worst."An excerpt from an undergraduate's paper forSociology 116: Daemons and Culture





	(Un)settled: An overview of atypical patterns of daemon morphic fluidity

The 'standard' pattern of morphic fluidity in daemons is a bell curve[1], punctuated by the long tail of settled adulthood. The brief window of infant stability, transitioning to the rapid-fire shifts of childhood peaking around age ten, before slowly dropping to a stable set of preferred shapes and ending with settlement into a final adult form by the point of legal adulthood.

There is no public conception of non-traditional settlement except as a stigma, a moral failing. Non-traditional settlement is pathologized, treated as a sign of mental illness at best, moral depravity at worst. [2] This is despite the fact that nearly eight percent of the population will fall outside the bell-curve model.[3]

The most common alternate settlement patterns: delayed settlement, precocious settlement, two-stage settlement, long-phase polymorphic settlement, short-phase polymorphic settlement, traumatic resettlement, and traumatic unsettling.[4]

Delayed and Precocious settlement are both recognized medical conditions, akin to disorders related to puberty and development. [5] Two-stage settlement, polymorphic settlement, and trauma-based settlement patterns meanwhile fall under the umbrella of psychiatric disorders. [6]

Delayed settlement is defined medically as any daemon settlement after the age of sixteen, but is not considered 'serious' unless a daemon remains unsettled past the age of majority. [7]The oldest recorded settling was Bazhenov Vyacheslav|Emiliya at 39 years old. [8] Delayed settlement is often seen as a sign of immaturity, [9] or less commonly, of a concealed or denied aspect of self. [10] The stereotype of gay men settling late derives from this belief.

Precocious settlement, on the opposite end of the spectrum, is daemon settlement before age thirteen.[11] Precocious settlement is most diagnosed in boys, despite studies [12] which suggest girls are three times as likely to settle precociously than boys are. The youngest recorded settlement was Faraji Shabani|Jahaira at five years old. [13] Daemons who settle precociously are four to five times more likely to show atypical settlement patterns later in life, compared to those who settle latter. [14]

Two-stage settlement, also known as 'false settling', is defined by the DSM-5 as 'periods of involuntary quasi-settlement, where a daemon is morphically stable for a minimum of six months'.[15] The DSM-5 definition is not without controversy – proponents of neuro-morphic theory argue that 'quasi-settlement,' by definition, is only applicable to daemons who retain metamorphic ability. [16] Despite the name, two-stage settlement can have many periods of morphic stability – the 'stages' of the name are a final settlement stage, and a prior temporary settling stage. [17]

Long-phase and short-phase polymorphic settlement are marked by limited retention of metamorphic ability. Polymorphic daemons have a set range of forms – as few as two, or as many as twenty [18] have been recorded. In contrast to unsettled daemons, polymorphs often describe their shifts as involuntary or situation-based. (e.g. a polymorph is always a yorkshire terrier at home, but shifts to a husky while at work.) [19] The division between long and short phase polymorphs is largely artificial, useful more for describing the entire population than any one individual. A polymorph who shifts more than once a month is considered a short-phase, one who shifts less often is a long-phase. [20]

Traumatic resettlement and unsettlement were, until recently, treated only as symptoms of PTSD. [21] The DSM-5 reclassified them as trauma disorders in its own right. [22] (By DSM-5 definition, any resettlement or unsettlement event is considered traumatic unless proven otherwise. [23]) Though there is some overlap in cause, traumatic resettlement is most commonly associated with single-event traumas, while unsettlement corresponds with chronic or long-term trauma. [24] ...

  
  


 


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